The Sound Of The Sea [L.S]

𝑻𝒘𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒆𝒕𝒉 𝑰𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏

He nodded rapidly against my chest.

"Can... Can I stay tonight?" - He mumbled.

I felt how my breathing stopped.

"Of course Harry." - I whispered.

He didn't let go of me though.
We stayed there wrapped in each other's arms for a bit.
I kept caressing his back soothingly with one hand and then slid my other hand to his hair, making traces with my fingers against his scalp until he felt ready to separate from me.

He wiped his tears and walked past me, entering the house and waving at my siblings who were watching us on the sly.

I rolled my eyes at them and followed Harry upstairs to my room.

"I'm sorry for showing up without warning." - He said, clearly ashamed.

"I told you, it's fine. You're always welcome. Besides, you're lucky that tomorrow's Saturday and I don't have to get up early to prepare breakfast and work on the farm." - I smiled at him.

He smiled back and looked around, deciding on sitting down on the armchair next to bed.
His expression was back to the serious one and his lips were pressed against each other.

"Are you... still mad at me?"

"I was never mad, I told you today." - I said.

"But you cried."

"Don't worry about me, I'm not mad."

He nodded in silence as he stared at the ground.
I kept my eyes on him, evaluating what to say next.

"Did Liam walk you home?"

"Huh?"

"Today, when you left the beach... Did he walk you here?"

"Yes, I mean his car was parked here so he needed to return with me."

"Are you guys close?"

"You could say that."

"He doesn't like me."

"You don't like him either." - I shrugged. - "Besides, you weren't very nice to him."

"I know. I'm sorry."

"You should say sorry to him. Not me."

"Right."

"Why are you asking about him?"

"Because... I kinda want to make things up with you and him. Because it's your friend... and since you're my..." - He shook his head, interrupting his line of thought, and then looked up at me. - "Thank you for letting me stay the night here."

I frowned and let out a breath I didn't know I was containing.

"You would have done the same."

"Yeah, I would."

"And let me say that I would much rather sleep in that luxurious penthouse of yours than here. Maybe I should ask you to spend the night there from now on." - I teased.

Harry's face illuminated with his big, teeth showing, smile.

"You're always invited."

I laughed out loud and stepped closer to him, taking a seat on the bed.

"Do you want to talk to me about your father?"

"I always want to talk to you. Just not about him."

"Okay, I won't ask then."

"It's just... he showed up, unexpectedly, and drunk. Gemma wasn't here anymore and I felt... I saw him and I couldn't even speak to him. I haven't seen him that way and it was worse than what Gemma had told me. I... I guess I freaked out and I locked him in the penthouse. I'm the worst."